United States plans to ban menthol cigarettes

Washington, April 29: The US government took steps that would ban menthol being added to flavor cigarettes and cigars, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said. “The US Food and Drug

 Administration is announcing proposed product standards to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and prohibit all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco) in cigars,” the FDA said in a release.

The FDA said the new standards can significantly reduce disease and death from combusted tobacco product use, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, by reducing youth addiction and increasing the number of smokers that quit. Anti-smoking activists and others have long been concerned with the troublingly high rates of menthol cigarette use by youth, young adults, and African American and other racial and ethnic groups Menthol is a minty tasting and smelling flavor additive aroma that reduces the irritation and coarseness associated with smoking. FDA officials say tobacco use is a leading cause of cancer and cancer deaths. About 30 percent of all cancer deaths in the US are caused by smoking. An FDA program called “Cancer Moonshot” has a goal of reducing America’s cancer death rate by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years. (UNI/SPUTNIK)